It’s been said a mind is a terrible thing to waste. I think mine is a lost cause. Yesterday while on the Internet searching for new phone providers (ugh) and a reasonable way to make sweet potato fries crispy (1400 degree oil and then only if it’s the third full moon of the month), I wandered into requirements for establishing a non-profit foundation (there are a lot!), a discussion if malpractice insurance should be considered if you’re retired but still doing volunteer work (yes, because lawyers), whatever became of blonde furniture (it’s still out there but is really expensive), and the top selections for baby names in the 1950s.
Maybe it is because I am a child of the 50s but those names were sort of boring. I mean they weren’t. ad names, still aren’t, but except for Robyn with a “y” on the girls side and Ian for the boys, there are no names that make you scratch your head and go hmmm. If you were in elementary school in the 60s these were your classmates. I had at least one of each at my 6th grade graduation. Except for poor Ian. No Ian.What I found interesting is that although these were and still are good, strong names, they have all disappeared. The number one girls name in the 50s didn’t make the top ten in any of the remaining 20th century decades. It took until 80s for the boys mid-century leader to fall off the board and by then only 2 of the top ten 1950s names remained on the list at all. By the 90s only one boys name from the 50s top ten lost remained. The girls names faired even more poorly. Just one decade later there were onIy two repeaters in the top ten and they both were gone by the 70s.
By the time the I had poured over those lists of names curiosity got the better of me. In addition to wondering whatever because of Jennifer I also wondered what are today’s parents calling their children. I pulled up the Social Security website and searched for the latest complete year of given names. If you’ve not been to ssa.gov you should spend some time there. They do more than issue the nine digit ID numbers so sought after on the dark web. There I found the top ten lists of baby names for last year. No surprises. They are different but the same. Good strong names but no shockers. I am sure in sixty years or so those children will wonder what became of classmates they will be meeting for the first time a few years from now.
There is one surprise. William, the number 8 most popular boys name in the 1950s who never showed up on another list from the 19-anythings is back. I wonder if he will blaze a trail for the other 19 to follow. Even Ian.
Come on ev’rybody, I say now let’s play a game
I betcha I can make a rhyme out of anybody’s name
The first letter of the name
I treat it like it wasn’t there
But a “B” or an “F” or an “M” will appear
And then I say “Bo” add a “B” then I say the name
Then “Bo-na-na fanna” and “fo”
And then I say the name again with an “”f” very plain
Then “fee fi” and a “mo”
And then I say the name again with an “M” this time
And there isn’t any name that I can’t rhyme
Ian! Ian, Ian bo-be-nan
Bo-na-na, fanna fo-fe-nan
Fee fi mo-me-man. Ian!
Shirley Ellis
The Real Reality Show Blog 